Basics

Welcome to the Basics section of our Resident Evil 5 guide. Here, you can find myriad tips, hints and tricks to help you understand both the fundamentals of RE5, as well as the finer points. We've separated our Basics section, as usual, into multiple parts. The Fundamentals, listed below, will bring you through some of the game's more basic details, from controlling yourself and your partner to using weapons, and more. The next section, Advanced Tactics, steps up the game a little bit, getting into more complex details, such as fighting tactics, treasure hunting, and item hoarding. And finally, the Ten Tips section is a quick rundown of ten of the most integral things we can think of to tell you about before going into your experience with Resident Evil 5. The latter is a true must-read for novices and experts alike.

A Primer

Are you new to Resident Evil? Well, whether you are or aren't, you'll basically find yourself on like playing fields with experts, intermediates and n00bs alike, simply because Resident Evil 5 is a much, much different game than its predecessors. While Resident Evil 4's release on the GameCube (and later, the Wii) began the trend away from archetypical survival horror in the classical sense of the term, Resident Evil 5 has run with the ball all the way. No longer is Resident Evil a survivor horror game, per se. Rather, it plays much more like a standard third-person shooter with plenty of horror elements to forever keep you on your toes.

But just because Resident Evil 5 is an intrinsically different game than its predecessors doesn't mean that there isn't plenty to be found that's familiar, as well. Main character Chris Redfield, for instance, should be a familiar sight to Resident Evil veterans that have played the very first title in the series (released thirteen years ago!) Green and Red Herbs, classic RE-series curative items, appear en masse in the series' fifth canon iteration. There's plenty and plenty of throwbacks to be seen and enjoyed if you're familiar with the series. But there's even more that's new to be seen and enjoyed.

Continue reading to familiarize yourself with Resident Evil 5.,

Your Objective

Resident Evil 5, in premise, is identical to Resident Evil 4. You'll find yourself in environments that are essentially linear in nature, making it difficult to get lost. As you move through said environments, you'll have to fight zombified enemies and other ghastly creatures, solve puzzles (some more difficult than others), and generally just survive... hence survival horror. We won't ruin the game's rather thick plot by explaining who you're going after or what you're doing as you play through the game, but we will assure you that this plays similarly to RE4, with even more emphasis on the third-person shooter aspect of the game, at the neglect of the survival horror elements in which the series was built upon.

Of course, RE5 is different than RE4 in plenty of ways, most notably because of the addition of a partner that is always there, whether you have another player controlling her or not. She's a clumsy, awful addition to the game, and most gamers will no doubt find her a hindrance more than a helping partner, but she's there nonetheless, and you'll need to learn to deal with her. Or, if you're extra savvy, you can simply learn to work around her and in lieu of her. See our Ten Tips section for more on that.

Controlling Chris

Chris Redfield is the game's main character, and you'll be forced to play as him through your initial playthrough. Controlling him is simple enough -- use the analog sticks on your controller-of-choice to look left and right, up and down, and to move him around the environment. Also, be sure to invert your Y-axis if need-be! As for how to use your weapons, scroll through your inventory, and do all of the other integral motions of RE5, you'll need to differentiate between which version of the game you're playing (PlayStation3 or Xbox360). You'll also need to familiarize yourself with the game's four control schemes, which can be set-up from the start menu at any time. If you're curious, set-up "D" is the default set-up, and the one that is most standard for Resident Evil veterans. Unfortunately, you can't customize a control scheme of your own.

Keep in mind that while you have to play as Chris through your initial playthrough, you'll be able to choose which character you use (Chris or his partner Sheva). Sheva controls identically to Chris, although it appears that while Chris is right-handed, Sheva is left-handed. When aiming their guns, therefore, you'll get slightly different perspectives.

The Inventory

Few things are more important than inventory building and management in a Resident Evil game, and RE5 is certainly no exception to the rule. Each of the two characters will have nine slots in which to put their weapons, items and gear into, and there are no slots to be added or subtracted during your playthrough. What you start with you end with in terms of inventory slots, so while the early-going will be easy in terms of inventory management, the end of the game will challenge you much more.

Luckily, you have some recourse. In between chapters or whenever you die, you'll be brought to an overarching inventory screen that covers not only the characters' inventories, but your stagnant, static inventory that's being kept, presumably, in some sort of remote location. It's from here that you can swap items in and out of your active inventory, sell excess goods, upgrade weapons, browse your collection of treasures, and more. Be sure to utilize this oft-granted opportunity whenever you can, since it allows you to customize your inventory for very specific situations, and allows you to make your weapons more powerful as well.